Hessel van der Kooij: Singer, entrepreneur and former owner of café-restaurant de Groene Weide in Hoorn on Terschelling

"I always compare the island feeling with a pollard willow, because it is determined by an immeasurable amount of little things, the offshoots so to speak. For example, the small scale, as an islander you know many fellow islanders. Or the willingness of islanders. If your roof has to be lifted, the whole neighborhood helps out. The neighbourly duty at funerals, a beautiful tradition. All details, but so decisive".

Hessel doesn't have to think about the most beautiful place on the island: "Those are the crown polders and pole 3 because it is so beautifully rough there, authentic and less cultivated".